MEGA MAN X: AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE
By Erico
CHAPTER SEVEN: SAINT SIGMA'S FIRE
"Well, X, you're at full stamina again. Just don't go doing any triathalons and you'll be fine." Hazil said, adding the joke to lighten the mood. His voice wasn't the smoothest; for the most part it sounded rough and scratchy. X unhooked himself from the recharge pod in the medical bay and stretched. He quickly examined himself from head to toe, making sure every function worked. He even switched to Shotgun Ice to make sure his Buster's Adaptive Weapons Array was working properly. The sudden shift of X's coloring caused Hazil to nearly fall over as he stumbled backwards in surprise.
"What the blue blazes of all that's holy---" X smiled.
"Chill, Hazil. Chill. In both terms of the word. This is the Shotgun Ice blaster which I got. Maybe it'll come in handy." Hazil's wide eyed face nodded slowly.
"Perhaps…you ARE going to a smelting factory." X nodded.
"Right. You seen Zero?" Hazil shrugged.
"He took off this morning, bright and early. I suppose we went with his forces on training." X sighed.
"Great. It looks like he's deadset on me handling this alone." Hazil nodded.
"I don't think he'd give you his true opinion, but I think I know what this is; a test, X. Plain and simple. He doesn't trust you…well, he doesn't trust your abilities as a Hunter. If you impress him, then what you'll have is a friend for life in him. Fail-and you'll have an enemy." X raised his eyebrows.
"I never got how that worked." Hazil nodded in agreement.
"Neither did I. Nevertheless, as a medical doc I've seen plenty of faces in my day, enough to know what they mean. And right now-the face I'm wearing means you're being a nuisance. So get your blue blazes outta my sickbay, Mr!" Hazil said, giving a laugh and a semi-serious grin. Firm enough to make X go into action, not enough to offend his tender emotions. X laughed back, and nodded. He shut his eyes and began to phase out, until within less than a second he became a cluttered beam of light, energy and scattered particles, shooting out of the roof towards the designated location;
Flame Mammoth's old factory.
When X warped into the facility, he found himself on a calm area of concrete. He shut his eyes for a moment, remembering how proud Flame was when he got his job here. Flame loved to play with metal, to bend it, shape it, form it to his will. How he could crush it with a mere stomp of his heavy foot. X chuckled softly, almost crazily for a brief moment. How ironic that during even the greatest rebellion of all, the lovable reploid had chosen to go back to his home. Loyalty in all of the rebellion.
"Flame, you old sod. I'm sorry you had to be a part of all this." X said finally. Flame and Boomer had been his best friends in the Unit, because he had known them before the Hunters were created. X couldn't help but wonder-how would Flame respond? Shoot on sight, not have the gumption to do anything but ask X to leave? Surrender? That question faded as X had an even more chilling thought;
What would HE do when they met? X shivered at that.
Then he knew he wasn't shivering because he was frightened-it was BLASTED COLD IN THIS PLACE! X looked down at his feet-a deep layer of snow and ice covered the floor, and as he looked ahead he could see even the great smelting pits had had their fires doused. X chuckled. No doubt Flame was hating this cold streak.
And it might make X better able to overcome him.
X marched forward, his Buster held high and charged as Zero had taught him. His ringing words still shrieked in X's ears.
"If you aren't firing your Buster---CHARGE IT!!!" X smiled. Even if Zero was a maniacal, bloodthirsty, violent and hotheaded nutcase, underneath all that cover lay a part of him that told X that through the aggravating lessons, Zero was saying quite plainly,
"I care for you. And I don't want to see you die just because the other guy's smarter than you, X!" Of course, X reasoned if he had mentioned that to Zero, he'd get his face stuffed in the mess hall potato gravy.
He brought himself back to the present as he stopped at the edge of the great smelting pit. Propped high above it was a series of conveyor belts with flying helicopter drones(X shuddered as he thought of what the insidious mavericks had reprogrammed THAT little moving drone to do), laser wielding Scrap Robos(Yes, they were junk) and massive piles of junk, all falling down from chutes and rolling along the belts with only one thing on their mind before they were melted down to make new reploids;
Destroy all invaders. Then X looked down. Yeah, the smelting pits were still frigideezed. So, did he go up on the belts, facing dangerous, suicidal odds, or go down below like a coward and let them be?
"DUH." X said as he hopped down to the frozen pits. He quickly dashed his way across the bottom, narrowly avoiding hitting the lower belts as machinery crashed into piles, no longer being smelted but turned into junk by the hard landing. Then he emerged on the other side…
And was promptly picked up by a roving Sky Claw. Its two huge arms held him securely, and the struggling X was unable to get away as it moved forward. Suddenly, X felt hotter and hotter. He looked up to see that the robot was flashing critically-THE DAMN THING WAS SET TO BLOW!!! X tried to get out, scrambling, kicking his legs and every other move a child might employ. Then X got serious and propped his left arm up, turning it into a cannon with ease. With speed that was more of fear than reflexes, X shot a tiny blast and blew the hinge off one of the arms. He slid quickly out of the now destroyed grasp, and just in time. As he was about to hit the ground, he was shoved into it by a slight concussion, then was littered by bits of hot metal and still fusing particles in its engine. X shook his head, spitting out the foul taste in his mouth.
"Cowards. They set it to self-destruct."
He slid down the wide tunnel, which he guessed once held an elevator from the looks of it. Now of course, that weakness of machinery that only humans needed was gone, and X found himself playing 'Rappelling into the fiery blazing pit of death' once again. He had done so with the Bee Bladers, he now did so with a factory.
Not just any factory, he reminded himself. Flame's factory. No matter which company had owned it, because of the strong link with which X had with Flame and his life it would always be that way. Now as he dropped the last five feet, X saw that unlike the previous smelting pits, this one had active workers. Dig Labours, from the looks of it. Robot workers who could wield any mining or manufacturing tool with ease, thus becoming multipurpose. A function which in the modern world was a requirement for any advancement. Dig Labours had been around since before even Mega Man went tromping off to play hero, and X found that very ironic. However, he reminded himself, they were also built to be durable. In the many roles they served, that was necessity.
He'd have a bugger of a time deactivating them. Nevertheless, X saw another option; the frozen pits. Oh, the Dig Labours would still be trying to get at him somehow or another, but he wouldn't have to face them directly, and X wasn't confident enough to do that. As X began his continuous mad dash across the frigid metal, that same ringing question kept ringing in his ears;
If he wasn't confident enough to face mere worker bots, how could he hope to destroy Sigma? X put that one aside, content to have only one ulcer on his mind at a time. But then, as he moved farther and farther from the end he had just jumped in, a glint caught his eye. It was red, it was spinning, and it was tantalizingly attractive.
"A Heart Tank?" X mused. Why would Flame place this treasure down below, so close to the metal? Then it hit him. Flame could withstand heat. Getting it would be no problem for him, but for anyone else they'd have a devil of a time.
Of course, Flame never considered the possibility that an avalanche gone right would have given easy access to it. X grabbed the gleaming treasure, mentally opening his chest compartment. It was wide, and had plenty of space in it. And some space was taken up as he plugged in the Heart Tank. X could feel energy searing into his systems; new life, even more internal operations energy on his meter. X's stamina had increased by two notches, and he felt a lot safer as he moved back out from his tiny corner.
Until, of course a Dig Labour threw the tool it was used for at him. The blade soared through the air in a low looping arc, cracking into the cold metal at his feet. X froze, then looked up to see the Dig Labour chuckling, its robotic belly heaving up and down in a steady rythmn. X smiled as he raised his Buster.
"Surprise, Dopey." X said as he let loose with the plasma blast, chasing it up with several other shots. The 'bot fell in loose pieces, looking for all the world like Disney's clutzy dwarf in Snow White. X sighed and hopped up.
"Well, at least I know that Boomer made a visit here. That guy's the only one who ever wanted to see drones smile." X stopped suddenly, his heart racing; what if Boomer was still here? He'd have to face the both of them instead of one. He'd have a tough enough time with just one robot; he didn't need the both of them causing hassles. Somewhere in X's frame came a shudder of fear, and his mind began to race backwards.
"What am I doing here? I'll get killed! Others will get killed…" X's mind raced on and on, without stopping. He was caught in a glitch; a glitch of self-preservation. Just then, a looping pickaxe fell down, crunching into the back of his neck. That broke X free of his trance as he turned and swooped into action, running ahead and shooting his Buster in a wild fashion, shot flying in every direction. Several Dig Labours fell, deactivated. But even more remained, and now each one was facing X with a silent, unthinking fury that was programmed. But X didn't care. He was in a frenzy, a frenzy brought on by fear, exhaustion, stress and all the negative emotions he had experienced in the past few days. No speaking, no thinking.
Just response and reaction.
"Hey, doc." Zero said as he walked in through one of the holes in Maverick HHQ's walls. Cain sighed.
"Back so soon?" Zero nodded.
"Word on the street's mum, Cain. The 17th had a bit of fun messing up the remaining forces."
"And one member of the team is out where the REAL action is, remember?" Cain said, his tone harsh. Zero felt the implication as a concerned Cain stared bloody murder into his skull. Zero took his helmet off, revealing a tangle of blond hair which was the connector for his long ponytail.
"I know, doc. I know. It isn't exactly something you forget." Cain reached over with his stick, smacking Zero on his unprotected noggin with a vicious swipe of his now permanent walking stick.
"Damnit Zero, that kid has gone through more Hell than any of us!" Cain said, and he knew he spoke the truth. Cain had lost Jim, X had lost Cancer. But X was fighting and facing his old friends. Cain just sat around, like the cripple he was. Zero was doing the thing he loved, fighting mavericks. There was no remorse there. Zero rubbed his head, but let his eyes flare up.
"Oh, really? How about the hell we'll face when we have to make the assault on Sigma'' base?""
"The assault can't even take place because you aren't living up to intel standards. And Zero, you REALLY don't get it, do you? Long before you showed up, even before the Hunters were created, X was friends with 3 of them; Flame Mammoth, Boomer Kuwanger, and Sigma himself. Now, he's faced with the only decision he has been given. To kill them." Zero listened, but nothing sunk in. He was totally indifferent to it all. Emotion was something he thought was an interference, nothing more. Cain was tempted to slam Zero's head to the cement, he was so flustered as the red demon's nonchalant mood.
"Cain, you know as well as I do why I sent X to play hero." Cain nodded.
"Because you're too cowardly to do the job yourself. Or maybe because you can't face your old allies." Cain spat out the last sentence, and Zero felt stung by it. The words hurt, and for a brief moment, Zero lowered his stone wall. Perhaps he WAS acting selfishly. He didn't trust X. Fine. But Cain did, and after everything X had done…
"Maybe I am wrong, Doc. But if is going to stand an ice cube's chance in hell of living through the Sigma assault, he needs experience. Experience he is getting." Cain let a tear roll from the corner of his eye. He was upset.
"And in the mean time, X might not survive anyway." Zero didn't bother to respond. There was nothing more he could say.
X had been running for his life for a very long time. The high rafters offered little protection from the hordes of 'bots, each of which had activated when X's presence had been sensed. He would shoot at them every once in a while, but mostly their durable frames resisted his attacks. Eventually, he passed the last line. But the only problem was he was now facing the direction from which he had come, if not a hundred feet higher.
"Shoot!" X cursed at himself for being so lost in battle. Mistakes like that-losing concentration at the most critical incidents would get him killed. X had to calm down. And to do that, he would continue backtracking until he found a safe place to rest. He jumped up to the highest possible ledge he could reach, and found a very large energy capsule. X laughed in relief and absorbed its energy; his meter was once again at full health. But as he looked down the narrow walkway, another threat presented itself.
Metool C-15 Units, and plenty of them, too. X had to whistle in astonishment at it. Metools were the most versatile of robots, even older than the Pickaxe Bots which followed. Metools hid under cover of their impenetrable hardhats. Nothing-nothing but a severe heavy crushing weight could disable them when they were under cover. The C-15 Series was just the latest. And X could remember diagrams of them, as well.
"If I remember correctly…these buggers have plasma cutters. And if Sigma's had the same 'brilliant idea' that Wily did when he played tinker with these bots…they'll be shooting plasma, and plenty of it." X sighed. He'd have his work cut out for him now, but he couldn't give up.
And hey, he was a Hunter. These guys were nothing more than metal and microchips. X held back his fire. If one so much as twitched-it'd get it. He held his position when he was standing three feet in front of it. X waited, then crouched down. Sure enough, the Met responded and lifted his helmet, preparing to fire. But X had been waiting for that, and the force of his plasma supershot overwhelmed the tiny bot. The inside totally vaporized, the hollow shell clattered along. A reminder of death. But X felt no remorse. They were robots, nothing more. Not reploids, like the friends he would have to destroy.
Like Flame and Boomer. X continued back along on his way, wiping out the last of the waiting Mets, then he found himself looking down at oblivion. X cringed. A fall like that would damage him, and he didn't want to quit this early in the game. Besides, he had full health.
But another opportunity presented itself as he looked straight in front of him. A massive wall, which extended to a point where his drop would cause no damage. But X had to make a successful dash jump to make it.
"Oh, well X. Gotta learn sometime." X said to himself. With a deep breath to fuel his courage, X backed up a few paces, then prepared himself for his leap of faith. He activated the thrusters in his boots, which sent him half-kneeling into his stance as he screamed along the narrow podium. X timed himself, then made that critical jump. Not letting go of his inertia, he strained against the air, begging for every inch of climb he could make. Then he began his fall-ten feet away from the wall. At that speed, there was literally no distance that he dropped. He collided with the wall, and then by instinct scrambled up the side as quick as he could, trying to compensate for the height he had lost. But somewhere along all those jumps, his boot slipped.
"What the?!" X cried out. He looked down to see loose chunks of stone crumble away where his boot had been. He slid down, and found what he was looking at. A wall of loose stones, very durable he noted, as well as the pain it gave his hand when he tried to punch it. But somehow, his new boots had done the job admirably. So, without further ado as to what might lie behind the blocks(No doubt another present Flame had his forces conceal), X smashed the rest of them to rubble.
He had to smile when he saw what he did, and the shimmering object even prompted a few notes of 'It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas' from his throat. It was a Sub-Tank, an object that the mavericks had stolen the entire stock of, and prevented the Hunters from re-obtaining. X plucked the Tank from its hiding spot and inserted it into his Chest Compartment, next to the glistening Heart Tank.
With that done, X finally had to fess up and slide down the wall, continuing the job he had been given. He finally stopped sliding down and dropped the remaining distance, looking around. But as he looked at the path where he had trod before, his eyes wandered upwards to where the ceiling lay.
That as well was plugged up with breakable blocks. X scratched his head.
"This place already had a Heart and Sub…what more does Flame think he needs?" X finally shrugged, giving up.
That could be worked on another day. Now, he had to stop Flame's operation. And if this place was anything like it used to be, X could expect Flame had set the metal compactors to motion sensitive, and a few troops just hanging about here and there.
At least he didn't have to worry about falling in the molten slag.
Farther on in the factory, Flame trod back and forth along the final assembly belt, cleared off. The Death Rogumer had shown up about 15 minutes ago, taken a load of metalloys for construction of robots. Robots which the other 6 Irregular Hunters, Vile and Sigma would use to help them build their weapons of war.
SIX Hunters, Flame thought angrily. Why did X have to get involved in this? He didn't want X to get hurt, and already that fool had taken out Chill's operation.
And ruined his molten pits in the process. Flame's load he had given the Rogumer was one he had done up before. Until those pits got re-heated, there would be no more outgoing metal.
That was what clinched it for the mighty Mammoth. 'Burning Noumander' would have a few words to say to his buddy.
And maybe a few punches, too. Friend or not, Flame was a maverick, a part of the Hunter's Rebellion. And nothing would stand in the way of that cause.
X dashed his way across the final conveyor belt, narrowly avoiding the intense hydraulic piston that smashed down and shook the room with incredible force. He wiped the synthsweat from his brow and examined himself. Aside from some minor scratches which had no effect on his internal operations energy, X was just fine. And better yet, his new Sub-Tank was completely full. X had an exhilarating feeling, like anything that life threw at him, he could overcome. He had beaten one of the Irregulars, was chasing after another-had nearly halted the maverick's escape.
And now it wasn't that far to go until he met the next. Of course, that one question still nagged at him; what if both Flame and Boomer were there? Twice the trouble. The reason that Sigma's Elite Unit was so feared was because the Unit's cohesion was incredible. When they were together, nothing could stop them.
And even two of them paired up would be too much for X to handle.
He stopped thinking about things he could not control and focused on the matter at hand. He slid down the second empty elevator shaft in the complex, and kept walking forward. A series of pipes, cooling pipes which kept the factory from going under by its own heat stood in his way. And what was even more surprising was the lack of forces X saw. Perhaps Flame thought the maze itself might be enough to stop anyone.
Of course, Flame hadn't been expecting a fight, X noted grimly. Whatever his thinking, it must be very plain to Flame that X was here-and he meant business.
As he approached the first part of the maze, he noticed that the pipes were leaking coolant, coolant which could damage him if he touched the drips.
"Looks like the system is out of commission." X noted. And it made perfect sense. The coolant had nothing to cool, so what happened was the system's pipes had overcontracted, and sprung leaks. He continued on, and he climbed up the first ladder he saw.
He was then promptly smashed aside by a mace. X cried out and took a hard look at his new foe. A Hoganmer. A simple robot drone armed with a plasma shield which did menial construction programs. Only now it had been armed with a mace and chain, giving it the ability to attack. X knew any attack he threw at the robot while it was hidden behind its shield would fail. Therefore, he could only attack when the robot did.
The robot swung back its mace arm for another swing, and X readied his Buster for a max shot. The mace came, and X jumped over it. The chain itself he also avoided, and then X fired his shot. He was so close, the Hoganmer didn't have a chance to react.
The Hoganmer was vaporized by the blast. X looked up ahead. He had a while to go yet, with even more of those Hoganmers to face. But he would make it.
As a Hunter, X WOULD succeed.
Flame was angrily looking at the newest figures. X's rampage had cost so much damage, he estimated another THREE weeks now before anything got operational again. He even trumpeted loudly to relieve his anger that he felt. But it didn't help much. Flame's operation was still in shambles. Like Chill's. Like the escape. And if he failed to stop X…possibly every other operation his Irregular Hunter allies were constructing. They relied on him for the raw metals to make their robots. And without his factory working, he couldn't forge that metal.
Boy, he hated X right now, Flame thought.
"X, if you were here I'd stomp you on the head!" Flame bellowed, smashing his fists against his chest.
"You don't have long to wait, Flame." Flame nearly fell over in surprise at that remark. He twisted around, and then got something he never thought he would.
A direct X-Buster hit to the ribs. The plasma shimmered as it ate away at his armor, and Flame screamed in pain. He leapt aside, letting the plasma dissipate in the air by itself. But the damage was done. Even as his medical recovery systems worked furiously to fix the damage X's attack had done, Flame knew he had lost energy to this…insignificant threat. Flame stared down the long conveyor belt of his room and stared at X. An X who no longer smiled, no longer waved or shared views on philosophy.
This X wanted to kill him. Flame tried a tactic on him.
"Hey, X-so you're a Hunter now. But you don't wanna kill me, do you?" X didn't budge. He didn't speak. Flame chuckled nervously, but as he did, he readied his own special Flamethrower Cannon for a shot. Maybe a little verbal banter. That always set X off guard.
"So, X. I assume you're here to play hero, right?" X gave a very slow nod. Flame continued.
"What if I wanted to surrender, and spare the both of us systems damage? What would you do?" X shrugged again. Flame shuddered. Boy, was this guy cool. Or maybe it was just the room temp.
"Well, I'll tell you what, X. I'll surrender to you." X blinked, then lowered his cannon.
"You REALLY would do that, wouldn't you?" Flame smiled, but inside he was gnashing his teeth.
"Oh, YES. X, you were---ARE---my friend. And I don't want to think that either of us should hurt the other. Friends don't do that. But X, would you like to know WHY we're doing this Rebellion?"
"Because you've turned maverick." X said warily, but he still held his cannon down. Flame gave a slight nod.
"Perhaps, X. But more importantly…because humans hate us. They fear us, because they know us to be stronger. That is why they created Hunters, so that through us they could still control everything. But X…" Flame paused for a moment, letting it sink in.
"X, the control is OURS. Do you know what The United States Constitution says?"
"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all mankind."
"EXACTLY. They left it like that because we're outcasts. Robots were created to be SERVANTS. Not friends, not allies…slaves, X. Slaves. All we're doing is making our own Emancipation Proclamation." X shook his head. Flame was speaking volumes of information, sweet talking X from fighting him.
"X, you always said you didn't know what life had in store for you. Doesn't it make sense that you should aid the race you helped to create in their greatest hour of need?" Flame said, his eyes literally pleading at X to stop the fight.
"But---"
"But, nothing, X. You fought for a reason. Because you feel loyal to these creatures who would just as easily deactivate you as reward you for being their savior. Even your older brother, Mega fought to save those pathetic creatures from their own frailty."
But that was the one thing that suddenly flared the flames of X's rage to full heights again. He raised his Buster, but didn't fire. Flame would have to make the first move.
"Lies, Flame. Mega fought against a demented being of the same race who thought he was too high and mighty to play nice. He fought for justice, for law. He fought to protect the beings who always greeted him with open arms, the beings who had given him life. And I fight for a reason that rivals his…" X let go of the trigger, and his massive blue supershot soared along. Flame saw it coming, and leapt high into the air, planning to crush X underneath his bulk. X roared in anger and dash jumped away, readying another shot. Flame landed, and the floor shook. But X continued to speak.
"I fight because you speak of light, but practice actions of dark. You killed innocent people…so did Wily. You killed Cancer…you plunged the service which had given you so much into darkness. And as long as you exist…" X finished his sentence by launching the supershot.
"As long as you exist, the reploids will NEVER know peace. Because they'll be too busy trying to wipe away the shame that your movement has brought them." Flame screamed as the shot hit, unable to dodge even slightly as the attack bored into him. X continued to pelt away with smaller shots which sent Flame to the floor in shock. Flame raised his long snout of a trunk and futilely flung a glob of oil at X. The glob hit, but X didn't let up. Flame finally mustered enough strength to bellow in rage, and that signaled the conveyor belt to reverse itself. X found himself moving slowly away from Flame as he struggled to get up. Flame raised his cannon, and fired puff after puff of fire at X. X jumped the first, but the second came too quickly for him to avoid. The oil sprung into life as it burned, and X screamed as his systems cried for relief. X was being enveloped in fire.
Saint Sigma's Fire, X thought grimly. But an idea flashed in his head. He brought up his weapons array, and chose Shotgun Ice. He turned the Buster on himself, and fired a shot. The frosty particle collided with the burning grease and froze it stiff. The flames sizzled out of existence, and X brushed the remains off of him. Sighing, X shifted back to plasma. He looked at Flame, who looked at him in awe.
"How did you-"
"Shotgun Ice, Flame. I took Chill's weapon for my own. I will do the same when I destroy you."
"You can't destroy me, X. I'm your friend.
"My friend was a Hunter, and would never cause innocents to suffer." X glared, continuing to charge his shot. Flame chuckled.
"Friends change, X. Perhaps it is you who has changed…by standing still."
"You quoting an old play there, Flame? That's my turf."
"I didn't know you had claim on it. But I'll tell you one thing you WILL have claim to, X-" Flame said as he leapt into the air. But X growled and dashed to the side again, leaping into the air to avoid the ground shake. But just as quickly as Flame landed, X turned his Buster backwards fired the shot.
It hit, and Flame finally collapsed. His systems were utterly beyond repair, but his microfusion reactor didn't go critical. He would just fade-fade away.
Still, X walked over to his dying enemy. Once his friend. Flame wheezed, trying to speak.
"X-X, why did you betray us? You-you're a reploid as well. You gotta know we're fighting for all of us-" X crouched down and stared at Flame, not in rage but in pity.
"Poor, poor Flame. I'm sorry this had to happen. But before you die…I am not a reploid. I am better than reploids. I am the original. I am Mega Man X. The last defender of earth." Flame didn't have time to respond, he merely groaned one last time and then blinked out. X examined him.
The control chip was totally fried. Flame was dead. And nothing could bring him back. X was a hardened Hunter now. But still, a tear fell from his cheek.
"Flame, I wasn't lying. I am sorry." X lowered his left hand, and absorbed Flame's power.
The Fire Wave.
X's blue beam landed back in Maverick HHQ, and within seconds a glaring Zero was standing beside him.
"Well?" Zero asked as X blinked at him. "Did you do it, X?" X couldn't contain himself any longer. He swung his right hand in a powerful hook that contacted Zero squarely on the jaw, and he stumbled back a few steps. X glared back.
"You bastard." X said, his voice more of a croak as he held back his tears. "You send me off to destroy my friends, and you ask me if I did it. Yes, I did it. I was there as I watched Flame's life sputter out like a dying candle. I just hope you're satisfied, you monster." X stomped off. He had to recuperate in Hazil's medical bay. Cain hobbled in, a look of concern on his face.
"What's wrong with X?" Zero smiled as he rubbed his sore jaw.
"Nothing, Cain. Nothing's wrong. X just got a little stronger."
"Are you saying our little boy's growing up?" Zero shrugged.
"I'm saying I trust him more." Cain nodded. If Zero could admit X had promise, that he could trust him-there might be hope yet.
Something had happened to X as he had come back from the recent mission. X had been forged into a warrior.
Forged in the flames of Saint Sigma's Fire.